2017 British Grand Prix - Silverstone, 14-16 July

[Just_a_fan]

That was the best GP of the season so far for me. I wish every fortnight was like that.

I might be biased but Silverstone is a fantastic track and it would be a shame to lose it to a processional street circuit.

I like Silverstone as a track but the race was not very excting apart from the final drama.

The problem, as ever, was the TV director. DR was coming up through the field and we saw hardly any of it. The dicing between SV and MV was good to watch but didn't last long enough because Ferrari played the undercut (quite rightly). Bottas drove well but again we didn't see enough.

At least it wasn't like the old days where we just saw the leader lapping for 50laps!

[Treble]

That was the best GP of the season so far for me. I wish every fortnight was like that.

I might be biased but Silverstone is a fantastic track and it would be a shame to lose it to a processional street circuit.

I like Silverstone as a track but the race was not very excting apart from the final drama.

The problem, as ever, was the TV director. DR was coming up through the field and we saw hardly any of it. The dicing between SV and MV was good to watch but didn't last long enough because Ferrari played the undercut (quite rightly). Bottas drove well but again we didn't see enough.

At least it wasn't like the old days where we just saw the leader lapping for 50laps!

This is the best GP for the Mercedes and english Fans. LH made his personal boring grand prix, Bottas-Vettel was a normal fight between fresher and older tyres... The only spectacular thing was the Verstappen-Vettel saga. That worth the ticket for sure.

[mertol]

The fault is not with the car. Just Vettel performing on Kimi's level. They both suck now.

Nope, Kimi has been better in last few races.

Nope. My explanation only requires Vettel performing worse. Your explanation requires Kimi performing better AND Ferrari performing worse. Occam's razor.

[Spoutnik]

But it's been a pretty good race to watch. Fantastic race by Ricciardo with so many laps on these SS. The question is Red Bull are closer to Ferrari than the Ferrari to the Merc or it is the opposite ?

On race pace we have seen RB closer to Ferrari, it seems that RB´s updates are working specially well during the race. The gap is still important on qualy, though. But its clearly one of the team which improves more from qualy to race.

Yes, that's what I thought, nevertheless it's like Red Bull need a little bit more. More what ? In term of high speed sector since the last Renault upgrade they're not so far (sector 1 in Austria, sector 3 in Baku and average VMax). In term of slow speed corner they're not really good (sector 1 in Silverstone. Monaco) and furthermore they're not at their best in medium/high speed corner with their short wheel-base. So I think this Red Bull doesn't have a clear orientation unlike Ferrari or Merc, maybe it's linked with the Renault engine because I hear on Canal + that they will released more power, if there is more reliability.

[Sevach]

The ferrari car is still competitive if we examine the facts: Vettel got held up by max negating his supersoft pace compared to Bottas in the first stint.
If Vettel was in front of Max he would have passed Kimi and be running in clean air more or less.
After his first pit stop Vettel would not have no threat of the undercut and he would prepared his tyres on the outlap much better the result of this being a nailed on fight for the win with Hamilton.

I think ferrari fans are clearly overreacting. Watch how close it will be in Hungary.

Hungary is a track that negates power differences, basically if Ferrari can´t compete there... Uh Oh.

[Moose]

Hungary is a track that negates power differences, basically if Ferrari can´t compete there... Uh Oh.

Ferrari have no issue with power, they have an issue with high speed downforce.

It's McLaren you can expect to compete better at Hungary (until they blow up again).

[Just_a_fan]

The fault is not with the car. Just Vettel performing on Kimi's level. They both suck now.

Nope, Kimi has been better in last few races.

Nope. My explanation only requires Vettel performing worse. Your explanation requires Kimi performing better AND Ferrari performing worse. Occam's razor.

From an outside perspective, your explanation "protects" Ferrari. Judging by your avatar you are a Ferrari fan. Therefore your explanation is possibly biased, so whilst the Razor might suggest only Vettel is worse, your possible bias might affect the direction of the Razor's cut. As I say, this is from the perspective of an observer to your discussion.

[mertol]

My bias can't affect world events so you don't have an argument.

[Spoutnik]

Hungary is a track that negates power differences, basically if Ferrari can´t compete there... Uh Oh.

Ferrari have no issue with power, they have an issue with high speed downforce.

It's McLaren you can expect to compete better at Hungary (until they blow up again).

Not at all, they were matching the times of Bottas on S2 at Silverstone for example. I think their issue is more about braking stability and also medium/low speed parts (sector one) and their traction is a problem since their battle with Red Bull. But they have great mechanical grip and a nice aero setup I think.

Thus, Hungary will be a good track for them were they can probably match the Merc pace (despite the fact that it's Hamilton's favorite track), because only the S3 will be a problem for them, and furthermore it will be hot, the Ferrari seems better under these condition than the Merc. Merc as we've seen this week end is better under fresh condition.

[George-Jung]

Perhaps Baku had more effect on Vettel than 'we' thought. Vettel needs to refocus- we also do not know what is happening inside his head regarding contracts and switching sides??

@Mertol, although I like the way you're thinking- I do think Kimi upped his game due to the fact that he was running closer to the race winner than in previous events.

[foxmulder_ms]

The fault is not with the car. Just Vettel performing on Kimi's level. They both suck now.

Nope, Kimi has been better in last few races.

Nope. My explanation only requires Vettel performing worse. Your explanation requires Kimi performing better AND Ferrari performing worse. Occam's razor.

Vettel never finished behind Hamilton? Raikkonen would have been 2nd if not for the tire which I think the best Vettel could have done, too. Do not underestimate the Iceman

[Just_a_fan]

My bias can't affect world events so you don't have an argument.

No but it can affect your interpretation of events.

It's entirely possible that Vettel was worse AND Ferrari were worse but as a biased observer you can't see that. That was rather the point I was making.

[Moose]

Hungary is a track that negates power differences, basically if Ferrari can´t compete there... Uh Oh.

Ferrari have no issue with power, they have an issue with high speed downforce.

It's McLaren you can expect to compete better at Hungary (until they blow up again).

Not at all, they were matching the times of Bottas on S2 at Silverstone for example. I think their issue is more about braking stability and also medium/low speed parts (sector one) and their traction is a problem since their battle with Red Bull. But they have great mechanical grip and a nice aero setup I think.

I'm not sure what race you were watching - but I was watching the Mercedes pull out 0.3 seconds through Maggots and Beckets, reliably, but actually slightly losing time on the straights.

[mertol]

My bias can't affect world events so you don't have an argument.

No but it can affect your interpretation of events.

It's entirely possible that Vettel was worse AND Ferrari were worse but as a biased observer you can't see that. That was rather the point I was making.

It's possible but unlikely.

[PlatinumZealot]

Perhaps Baku had more effect on Vettel than 'we' thought. Vettel needs to refocus- we also do not know what is happening inside his head regarding contracts and switching sides??

@Mertol, although I like the way you're thinking- I do think Kimi upped his game due to the fact that he was running closer to the race winner than in previous events.

The Vettel fans claim that he is not that great a Silverstone, so that might explain what seemed a dip in form. Speaking on the psychlogical battle between Vettel and Lewis; I think Vettel is not used to having a direct competitor in equal or faster car fighting for the championship. So it is new territory for him. I think he is handling it well though as I do not see any major weaknesses in his driving.